Boons

+ATK: Always a welcome choice of IVs, an Attack boon is a great option to elevate Corrin’s raw damage output and can be useful in any set-up, though it does pair especially well with builds that revolve around Corrin’s ability to consistently OHKO opposing units.

+DEF: Corrin’s Defense stat of 31 can be enhanced further with a boon to supplement his already solid physical bulk and minimize the damage he takes from physical damage dealing foes.

+SPD: A Speed boon is also a valid alternative, bumping him up to a respectable Speed stat of 38. This allows him to increase his chances of denying his opponent’s follow-up attack, thus mitigating the amount of damage he takes, as well as improve his ability to perform follow-up attacks himself.

Neutral

HP: His HP stat should be left alone in order to preserve his good physical bulk of 73, however, a bane in this stat can be taken to enable him to reach the HP threshold of skills such as Wrath much more easily.

Banes

-RES: Corrin’s Resistance is his worst and least important stat, resting at a rather mediocre base value of 24, and can be safely lowered without significantly impacting his overall performance.

Corrin’s personal weapon, Draconic Rage, is incredibly powerful and lends itself to various different applications -- in addition to retaining the adaptive damage property that all dragonstones possess, Draconic Rage grants him a hefty +5/+5 Atk/Spd in-combat boost so long as he has more nearby allies than enemies, taking on a playstyle reminiscent to that of Owl tome users. More importantly, however, it also grants him a passive -1 Special cooldown, being the only dragonstone weapon as of the time of his release to grant its user such an effect.

Although this does come at the cost of losing out on Lightning Breath’s effect of innate Distant Counter, the trade-off is well worth it as Draconic Rage allows Corrin to have a distinct advantage over most of his competition in terms of damage output through considerably faster (and more reliable) Special activations -- something which this build aims to take full advantage of. An Attack boon is ideal in order to maximize both his raw damage output and OHKO potential.

His choice of Special is ultimately dependent on the A slot skill he is utilizing, with Blue Flame being his strongest and most consistent choice of Special by far if making use of a Breath skill in his A slot. Thanks to the accelerated cooldown from both Draconic Rage and his A slot, Corrin will be able to activate Blue Flame after getting hit just once and as his allies will already be standing near him thanks to his weapon’s activation requirement, the Special’s positioning requirement will generally be a non-issue.

Should Blue Flame be unavailable, Draconic Aura makes for a decent budget alternative, pairing well with this build’s strong focus on stacking Corrin’s Attack stat, and will also be fully charged after getting hit just once. One can use the Quickened Pulse seal in tandem with a Breath skill to make use of stronger Specials with longer cooldowns like Corrin’s native Dragon Fang. However, if using any other A slot, then Glimmer will be his Special of choice to make up for the loss of accelerated Special cooldown; it can, however, also be paired with the Quickened Pulse seal to potentially have his Special activate twice in his first round of combat.

Fierce Breath is Corrin’s ideal A slot skill, granting him an excellent +4 Attack boost to augment his damage output while also enabling him to activate his Special at a faster rate. Should it be unavailable, Steady and Warding Breath are also solid options, with the former providing him with a considerable increase to his physical resilience while the latter is useful solely for its effect of accelerated Special cooldown. Despite Corrin’s poor base Resistance stat, Distant Counter is still a strong candidate of skill to utilize in his A slot for added versatility, as it allows him to leverage his ability to deal adaptive damage and effectively shut down a wider breadth of foes. On a budget, Corrin’s native Atk/Def Bond can be used, elevating his damage output and physical bulk concurrently when he has an ally in a space adjacent to him.

Wrath complements this build’s aggressive playstyle perfectly and is arguably an irreplaceable component of this build, adding on to the potency of his Special activations through the flat +10 extra damage it grants him so long as he meets its HP threshold. For his C slot, Odd and Even Atk Wave are both strong choices to bolster his offensive prowess further on odd- and even-numbered turns respectively. However, neither skill is a necessity for him to function properly and can be simply replicated by providing him with team support, leaving his C slot open to any skill that best compliments his allies’ needs like his native Hone Dragons. If not making use of the Quickened Pulse seal, then the Close Def seal will be his best option to enhance his ability to take on hits from melee opponents in the Enemy Phase.

In contrast to the first build, this set takes a more defensive approach to Corrin’s weapon and statline, focusing more on his ability to tank physical hits rather than solely on his damage output. Accordingly, in addition to an Attack boon, a Defense or Speed boon can also be considered to diminish the amount of damage Corrin takes, the former doing so by directly improving his bulk while the latter achieves this by allowing him to more easily avoid being doubled -- do keep in mind, however, that Corrin can quickly reach overkill levels of Speed if taking Draconic Rage’s effect into consideration and if already providing him with team support to his Speed stat, making a Speed boon less preferable in such instances.

Aether is a strong choice for his Special and synergizes exceedingly well with this build’s defensive playstyle, allowing Corrin to consistently stay above the HP thresholds of skills such as Guard and Quick Riposte with its effect of simultaneous healing and damage output increase. Furthermore, thanks to the combination of Draconic Rage, Steady Breath, and Quick Riposte, Corrin will be able to activate Aether in any round of combat in which he can counterattack, regardless of whether or not he is doubled, rendering the Special’s otherwise long cooldown a non-issue. On a budget, Bonfire can be a suitable budget alternative and will be fully charged after Corrin is hit just once, though this does come at the cost of losing out on Aether’s sustain. Alternatively, one can utilize Ignis and the Quickened Pulse seal to deal greater burst damage upon Corrin’s first counterattack.

For his A slot, Steady Breath is his best option as it provides him with both a considerable boost to his Defense stat and accelerated Special cooldown. Should it be unavailable, his native Atk/Def Bond makes for a suitable budget alternative, offering two of his most important stats a sizeable +5 in-combat boost so long as he has an adjacent ally.

Quick Riposte is a crucial aspect of this build as it guarantees his follow-up in the Enemy Phase, though the choice of whether to utilize it as his B slot skill or as his seal is ultimately up to personal preference and skill availability. Nonetheless, both options have their merits -- using it as his chosen B slot skill frees up his seal slot for Close Def to build upon his impressive physical bulk further whereas using it as Corrin’s seal leaves his B slot open to other alternatives, like Guard and his native Null Follow-Up. Guard enables Corrin to easily take down prominent meta threats who are reliant upon their ability to quickly activate their Special for their damage output, while his native Null Follow-Up allows him to shut down the ever-present threat that is Bold Fighter armors.

Finally, Corrin’s C slot is flexible, although Smoke skills are especially effective choices that can help him serve as a stronger standalone unit. In particular, Atk and Spd Smoke can greatly augment his survivability by lessening the damage he takes and decreasing his chances of getting doubled respectively. Otherwise, he’s free to run any C slot that best suits his teammates’ needs, such as his native Hone Dragons when running him alongside other dragonstone users.

Introduction

Alongside his female counterpart, Adrift Corrin (M) dons the garb of his close personal friend and companion, Azura, ditching his legendary sword, Yato, in exchange for another powerful personal weapon: Draconic Rage. It grants him the adaptive damage property that all dragonstones possess, an impressive +5/+5 Atk/Spd boost when surrounded with more nearby allies than enemies, but most importantly, a passive -1 Special cooldown, an effect similar to that of a Slaying Edge. Draconic Rage is currently the only dragonstone weapon as of the time of his release to possess such an effect, thus granting him a distinct niche that differentiates him from the rest of his competition. Statwise, Corrin does not disappoint either, boasting excellent base Attack and Speed stats of 35 each as well as an impressive physical bulk of 73. This stat spread, in tandem with his fantastic personal weapon, allows him to be exceedingly versatile as these factors allow him to run a variety of different builds to a general degree of success.

However, his base Resistance is quite lacking in comparison to the rest of his stats and can lead to issues when facing off against magical damage dealing opponents or when making use of Distant Counter. As both an infantry unit and a dragonstone user, Corrin also possesses an inherent weakness against effective damage weaponry, with the Naga users, in particular, posing the greatest threat thanks to their ability to target his Resistance stat as well as their Weapon Triangle advantage over him. However, even with these aforementioned weaknesses, Corrin’s strength should not be underestimated, capable of proving his worth as one of the stronger dragonstone users released thus far into the game’s lifespan.

Strengths

Draconic Rage

Corrin’s unique weapon, Draconic Rage, allows him to easily stand out from the rest of his competition, granting him a strong offensive boost that complements his well-rounded stat line in addition to currently being the only dragonstone weapon to grant its user a passive -1 Special cooldown.

Boosted BST

With a boosted BST of 167, Corrin garners more points in Arena than most of his other infantry melee counterparts, as he falls into the 165-169 BST bin as opposed to the typical 155-159 or 160-164 bins. This also allows him significant leeway statwise as he simply has more stat points to allocate than his competition.

Great Stat Spread

Corrin’s extra BST were certainly put to excellent use, possessing an overall well-rounded statline with only one notable weakness to speak of: his low Resistance.

Versatile

As a direct result of his strong statline and equally potent personal weapon, Corrin is rather versatile and can run any number of builds effectively.

Team Options

Dragonstone Users: Other dragonstone users such as Myrrh, Fallen Robin (M), and Summer Tiki (Young) are great choices for allies as they can provide him with support in the form of class-exclusive buffs and vice versa, subsequently improving each of their individual performances greatly.

Buffers: Since Corrin will typically be within close proximity of other allies due to Draconic Rage’s positioning requirement, buffers such as Sanaki, Marth, and, funnily enough, Corrin (M) who can provide him with in-combat boosts are fantastic choices to utilize alongside him as it is possible to stack his stats to exceedingly high extents.

Debuffers: Units such as Soren, Katarina, and Spring Sharena can also make for excellent allies as they can enable Corrin to easily pick off opposing foes by debilitating them with their debuffs.

Refreshers: Like all other units, Corrin’s performance sees great improvement when provided with refresher support from units such as Ninian, Olivia (YT), and Hoshidan Summer Xander, all of whom can grant him added flexibility in regards to positioning.

Resistance Tanks: Units like Flora, Felicia, and Sheena who boast high Resistance stats should also be considered as potential team options to alleviate Corrin of the worry of dealing with pesky magic damage dealing foes.

Strong Reds: As a blue unit, Corrin possesses an innate weakness against strong greens, making units such as Karla, Black Knight, and Celica worth taking under consideration as possible allies to use alongside Corrin in order to prevent him from worrying about having to deal with such opponents altogether.

Effective Weaponry: Due to his status as a dragonstone user, Corrin is extremely susceptible to anti-dragon units like Legendary Tiki (Young), Julia, and Deirdre who will typically face little to no issue in taking him down thanks to the effective damage granted to them from their respective weapons. Common wielders of the Poison Dagger or Cloud Maiougi, such as Kagero and Hoshidan Festival Elincia, can also do so to similar effect.

Offensive Mages: Offensive mages such as Ishtar, Ophelia, Olwen (WT), Halloween Henry, and Lewyn can also demolish Corrin with relative ease by targeting his rather mediocre base Resistance.

Draconic RageAccelerates Special trigger (cooldown count-1). If the number of allies within 2 spaces (excluding unit) > the number of foes within 2 spaces (excluding target), grants Atk/Spd+5 during combat. If foe's Range = 2, calculates damage using the lower of foe's Def or Res.